Clipped Wings

by TheLionNerd

Released

"R-Rainbow Dash?"

My breath stilled and my body tensed as I heard the small voice of a filly poking her head in. "Scootaloo?"

"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo galloped towards me, then jumped for a hug, wrapping her hooves around my neck as I felt wet tears coming down my shoulder. "Oh my gosh, I was so worried!"

Returning the embrace, I looked at her for a bit and smiled slightly. "What, about me? Hah!"

Wordlessly I felt Scootaloo nod into my shoulder. All she gave in response was a strangled sob.

“I was talking to Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, and they said their sisters had to go to the hospital because you got into a crash, and then I… I…” Scootaloo whimpered."Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?"

"Totally!" I tried to say, wanting to not break the full truth of it all to her. She was just a kid, after all. "Can't keep me down forever, can ya?"

Scootaloo broke the hug and just looked up at me with a small sad smile. She nodded.

"Doc just said I had a couple bumps and bruises, but should be out by the end of the week." With a shrug, I ruffled her mane. "Which means I'm back in the game!"

Scootaloo gave a little giggle."I should’ve known nothing could keep Rainbow Dash down!"

Then she paused as she noticed the giant casts attached to my back. Tilting her head in confusion, she looked up at me. "Rainbow Dash, what happened to your wings?"

...Oh. Biting my lip, I tried to word it as best as I could without telling her the injury. "Uh, well, my wings got scratched a bit."

Scootaloo fixed me with an unsure look."B-but Rainbow Dash, don’t wing casts usually mean broken bones?"

''W-Well.'' My ears fell, trying to find a way to get myself out of this and dodge the question. "Oh! How was school today?"

Scootaloo stared right at me, eyes full of confusion and fright. "Rainbow Dash? Wha… What happened?"

"Trust me, I'm fine.'' Looking at my cast, I rubbed it a bit, only to wince in pain. "Ow!"

"No Rainbow Dash, you’re not alright!" She squeaked, looking around in panic. Unfortunately, her eyes fell upon the X-rays still hanging on the wall. She let out a small gasp and slowly turned to face me, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "N-no."

As soon as our eyes met, I looked away sadly, not meeting her gaze. "Scootaloo..."

Scootaloo’s gaze flickered between me and the X-rays, comprehension slowly dawning on her as she realized what this might mean. “But… You’ll still be okay, right? You're Rainbow Dash! You’re a Wonderbolt! You can do anything…”

"That's the thing.." Tears came to me as well. "I can't fly anymore."

Scootaloo just stared at me for another minute, a crushed expression on her face, before wordlessly throwing me into another hug, her forelegs acting like a steel vice on the back of my neck.

With widened eyes, I stared back at her and hugged her, the two of us embracing as Scootaloo started to cry.

I wasn't the super cool Rainbow Dash she knew who could do awesome tricks for the Wonderbolts. I wasn’t the pony that could laugh at the concept of impossible and pull of a Sonic Rainboom. I wasn’t… anything anymore.

I’m not sure how long we stayed like that. It could have been minutes, hours, or even days. All I knew is that I had watched Celestia’s sun set before the embrace had broken. Scootaloo’s cries had devolved into dry sobs, then gentle shakes, and finally she was still. The filly had cried herself to sleep.

---

A week after I was put in the hospital, I was told I was being released. Finally, something good was happening! Yeah, I was eager to get out and back to a normalish schedule, but it won't be the same as before. Far from the same.

That did leave one problem that hadn’t occurred to me before, though. My house was a cloudhome. And if I couldn’t fly, how was I supposed to get back up to it? Well, with my wings paralyzed, I can't use them to get up there. I sure as hay wasn’t going to be seen catching a ride from another pegasus. Maybe I could get Fluttershy to help me make a staircase out of clouds?

Wait, Fluttershy! I could stay with her! Fluttershy would be able to have me stay with her! Though that does mean that I'll have to get a bunch of the stuff that was at my home brought down here.

But if I knew my fillyhood friend, she would love to have me over and help me out. Her heart was too big for her own good. And besides, what's the harm? Well, except to my pride. Well, to hay with that. This entire week was a constant stream of insults to my pride. With my mind made up, I turned and made my way over to Fluttershy’s cottage.

---

"Oh, I would love to help." Fluttershy told me as we sat at a table, both of us sipping our tea as we talked.

"I'm sorry that I don’t have a spare bed, but I can get you some pillows and blankets and you can have the couch, oh, if that’s okay with you." Fluttershy gushed. "And you can help me feed and take care of all the cute little animals here while I help get you back up on your hooves!"

"Whatever helps, Fluttershy." I said, taking another sip and gazing at all the decorations and cages adorning the wooden walls that my friend and her animals lived in. So this was going to be what I'll be around for a while, huh? "Even if the last time I took care of animals didn't end well."

"You mean when our cutie marks got all switched up, you moved every animal into the cottage, and forgot to feed them?" Fluttershy tittered. "Well rest assured Rainbow, this won’t be quite like that."

"Good thing, too.'' Looking at my cast, I rubbed the back of my head in shame and embarrassment. ''If one of your birds tried getting away, I'm not gonna be able to stop 'em."

Fluttershy looked at me in worry, seeing through my pathetic attempt of deflecting shame as a joke. "Well Rainbow Dash, you’re always welcome here as long as you need, but what are you going to do after you’re back to full… After your wings heal?"

"That's just it!'' I pointed out, setting the cup of tea down. "They'll never heal, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy stared at the ground. "I mean, I know what Twilight and the doctor said when we first saw you in the hospital, but I just figured if anybody could figure it out in the meantime , it’d be Twilight."

"If she could, she would have by now." My expression softened a bit as I sat back, sighing while looking at her. "Face it, Fluttershy, I can't so much as move my wings."

"Oh." Came the soft reply. The cottage was silent for a moment, and then Fluttershy perked up. "Well consider this your home away from home Rainbow. Stay here as long as you need, and I’ll do my best to take care of you."

"Thanks." I smiled slowly. "Even without me being in Cloudsdale, I at least still have someplace to stay for now. What kind of work will I even have to do?"

"Well you can always help with feeding the animals." Fluttershy gave off her signature comforting smile. "Feeding the chickens and getting lettuce and acorns for the little ones."

''Better than nothing, I guess.'' I shrugged with a groan, then went silent as I looked back at the wings. "But nothing will fix these..."

I was surprised to find the gentle sensation of Fluttershy throwing her hooves around me and pulling me into a tight embrace. Sighing in defeat, I returned the hug in kind. Out of all the ponies and places I could be stuck while broken, maybe this won't be so bad after all.

Comments

[Sunset_Shimmer83]

I wonder how spitfire is going to take the news of her best flyers injury

[BrakePads]

10214161
Either not well and disown Rainbow OR something on the lines of what Fluttershy is doing in the last part.

[Replica Knight]

Reading!

[Jhoira]

*Insert even meaner comment than Da kine's.*